Welcome to the best university in the country :)

It´s not easy to condense all of the moments which happen in a university during four years... Still, I'll try to show the best and the worst of both Minho University and Braga. Braga is also one of the European cities with the youngest population.

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Only 34 years old, the University of Minho (UM) has about 15 thousand students and offers 53 courses. It is divided between two separate campuses in two cities in the Minho district: Braga (where I studied) and Guimarães. As I know it better, I will focus on the Braga campus.

Weather

The weather in winter isn't very good... it rains a lot and is quite cold, therefore I recommend that if you are thinking about going, that you attend the second semester. This is because the days are much nicer and the sun makes any student want to leave the house... and at night the heat is a great excuse to go out!

Transport

To be honest, transport in Braga is not the most efficient, however, the university, in partnership with TUB (Transportes Urbanos de Braga: http://www.tub.pt/) created a bus route which goes exclusively between the university and the train station and back again. When you need to go to the city center, there are lots of buses, but what happens is that journeys take longer than scheduled, because of traffic. If you use the bus a lot, I advise you to get the "pass" since being a student makes it much cheaper.

Facilities

Concerning the facilities, we can't complain since, as I already mentioned, the University is new and the school and the buildings have been renovated in the last few years. Both campuses have libraries, computer labs, reprographics (printing and scanning), bars, canteens, gymnasiums and more. I must stress the they also have lots of green spaces that makes the trip to university more pleasant and help student interaction.

Sport

Students have access to a wide variety of sports in Braga, from Fitness, Dance, Yoga, Climbing, Capoeira (Brazilian Martial Arts), Judo, Water Polo, Handball, Basketball, Football, Ice Hockey and Volleyball, to Athletics, Squash, Tennis and more. The prices of enrollment are quite cheap and vary between 7, 50€/20€ per month and 15€/90€ per year (depending on the sport course). If you prefer to stay in shape by going to the gym, you will pay 2€ per session or get the monthly pass (15€), semester pass (52€), or annual pass (90€).

Meals

During term time, the best thing for students to do is eat in the canteen (2, 15€ per ticket) or in the University bars, so you can save money. The menus are online and can be loked at ahead of time to see if the food is good, there also being vegetarian options and diet menu options too (the latter needs to be purchased a day before). You can also eat well in the restaurants and cafes in and around the University, since the daily rate varies between 3, 5, 6€; depending on the place. I advise you to try "Francesinha" that the cafes do, they are very good, whilst being a typical Porto dish..

Accomodation

In Braga there are two residences: Santa Tecla and Lloyd Braga. They say that the former has better conditions and canteen, but it is further from the university than the first. If you want to rent an individual room then you will pay, on average, between 100 and 150€ per month. If you share the room you will spend between 80 to 110€. If you want to rent an apartment with friends, the price will be, approximately, between 350 and 450€ per month. These prices would be without bills included.

Professors and Teaching Quality

In terms of teaching the University is very well thought out, both in terms of technology and innovation, as well as the the level of good graduates it produces. Regarding the ease of passing the year, I think it's very relative... In reality, it depends a lot on the courses, but normally if you are from Erasmus you can always find one professor or another to make your life easier.

Nightlife

I can say that it's very good going out at night in Braga, especially when you live close to the university. The main road is full of cafes and bars, the latter normally having free entry, just for women. Various courses usually have dinners and parties to earn some money too. I recommend that you try these "course dinners" as they are very, very fun. Normally your night will always end in the University Bar, or in the "Sardinha Biba" or "Sabão Rosa" clubs.

Leisure

Beyond going out at night, a student can stroll around the city, visit monuments, galleries, have a coffee (a frequent habit in Portugal) or simply go to the cinema in Braga Shopping Centre, which lies very close to the university. Anyway you can consult the Braga Cultural Guide in the following link: http://www.e-cultura.pt/AgendaCultural.aspx?IDDistrito=0&MenuActive=1 .

If you are interested you can also join the cultural groups in the University of Minho, for example das tunas, dos Jogralhos, da Opum Dei, theatre, choir... really the only thing you will lack is time!

Academic Festivals

- "Recepção ao caloiro" - 2 days of parties in Guimarães to celebrate the arrival and integration of Freshers into the university. They are normally on a Tuesday and Wednesday nights during October. On Wednesday an activity called "Latada" happens, where all of the university Freshers go into the streets with cans and make noise... the course that does best is the winner. I must mention that going to the party on a bus is free.

- "Enterro da Gata" - this is the name given to the week of university festivals that are celebrated annually in May. Its name has origins in that "gata" represents school failure and that is why the festival always begins with the animal's wake. During this week there are no classes, only lots of parties and drunkenness. On the Wednesday of this week there is a parade of all of the courses in Braga, with floats, lots of music and happiness. The best course float wins! This tradition is done by the students of several other universities in the country ("Queima das Fitas") but in Braga it has a different name ("Enterro da Gata")

ABOUT THE CITY:

Gastronomy

As with other parts of the country, Bacalhau is the favoured fish dish in the Minhotan city, whatever the recipe (Bacalhau à Narcissa, à Minhota, à moda de Braga,... ). Other typical regional plates are Arroz do Pato (Duck rice), as Papas de Sarrabulho (Sarrabulho potatoes), o Cabrito à moda de Braga (Braga style goat), os Rojões à Moda do Minho (Minho style Pork), as Frigideiras (a Minhotan meat pastry), and many more. As for desserts I recommend o Pudim Abade de Priscos e o Toucinho-do-céu.

Culture and customs

- Semana Santa - Easter is widely celebrated in the city. There are lots of nighttime processions with hundreds of participants, where they recreate religious moments. On Easter Sunday, the tradition of kissing the Cross of Christ is prevalent, and at night there are fireworks as well.

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- Festas de São João - They run from 16th to 24th June and have an extensive and varied programme. There is a lot of activity in the street, percussion groups, bass drums, folk and pop music spectacles among others. Yet, the most important night is that of 23rd to 24th, as people go into the street with a plastic hammer or with a leek to hit people on the head ("marteladas")... that is to say that you spend the night both giving and taking a hammer to the head... but it's really worth it!

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Museums/ Architecture/Monuments

The nameplate of Braga is, in my view, o Santuário do Bom Jesus de Braga, which is found at the summit of the hill, just like o Santuário do Sameiro. In Bom Jesus you will also find a very beautiful natural park which is worth while exploring and even having a picnic in. Since you can walk to the university, highlighted by the "Escadório dos Cinco Sentidos", you can also go down the hydraulic elevator, which is over 100 years old, at the end of your visit.

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I also recommend that you see:

• Jardim de Santa Bárbara;

• Sé de Braga;

• Museu Nogueira da Silva (managed by the University of Minho) which has several art exhibitions;

• Museu da Imagem (Photography expositions)

• Theatro Circo (a beautiful building which was recently rebuilt, which has an eclectic design in the show room);

• Palácio dos Biscaínhos where you can admire the everyday of the 17th century nobility. The garden of this museum is still one of the most important of the Baroque period in Portugal;

• Do Museu Regional de Arqueologia D. Diogo de Sousa where there is a collection of "miliários" (marcos milenares / millenary marks) which is considered the best in all of Europe.

To finish up, I can certainly say that you will enjoy studying in Braga. You have everything close by, it's cheap, you know lots of people as the faculties are joined, there are lots of parties... I think that choosing to study in Braga was one of the best decisions in my life.

I hope to see you in the best University in the country! :)